learn to play the shakuhachi

When I was in 3rd grade or so, my school did a demo day of various instruments. I was pretty taken with a number of them, but Mr. Smith played a pretty impressive flute. It was between drums and the flute and since drums are pretty annoying to the parents when a kid is learning them and since my dad already owned a flute, I was strongly encouraged to pursue flute.

I played flute through to my freshman year of High School, almost all classical. I could sight read, but I couldn’t do any improvisation; no sheet music, no music. My freshman year of HS, I switched to guitar as it was pretty hard to play punk rock flute particularly if one needed sheet music for it.

Flash forward a million years… I listen to all kinds of music and “world” is among the kinds. I have come to really like the sound of various flutes and I have come to think that picking up old skills is worthwhile.

I particularly like the nez; a deep, breathy, exotic sound that I find incredibly moving. I tried to find a nez in shops around town, on craigslist, on ebay and couldn’t find one that I thought would work for me. During the search, I came across the Shakuhachi. It is also an end-blown flute with a breathy tone. It is a traditional Japanese instrument, tightly connected with Zen Buddhism.

Being a Buddhist, this attracted me. I listened to some Shakuhachi music, recognized it instantly from lots of music, films and tv. I read about the meditation practice, the discipline, the difficulty of playing it well, the lifetime dedication it takes and of course all this attracts me greatly despite the fact that I’m unlikely to get to any sort of mastery. And that seems ok with this instrument since it is a practice.

I ordered a Shakuhachi Yu, which is a molded plastic version. Reportedly it is easier to play and it is certainly less expensive. I am always hesitant to buy a cheap instrument because then I’ll never be sure if my inability to learn it was my fault or the fault of my cheapness. The Yu seems like a really good compromise.

I like the tone, I like the meditative tradition, I like the challenge. Can I spend the time? We’ll see.

(picture from http://www.shakuhachiyuu.com/)

I’ve always wanted to play an instrument, and after recently discovering the shakuhachi, I decided this is what I want to learn how to play. The music it creates is truly beautiful, and I’m fascinated with Japanese culture. I plan to get a shakuhachi for Christmas and a book on how to play it. Learning this will definitely keep me busy during the winter break. I really hope this is going to be a hobby I’m going to keep with me and love.

when i was in hong kong, i was playing quite a bit of shakuhachi and getting pretty good at it. however, i was sort of sick of it being a two-piece shakuhachi, so i decided to superglue it together. the glue dried and it wouldnt fit together because of the glue residue. i looked up how to remove superglue and discovered that nail polish remover does the trick! so i soaked my shakuhachi in nail polish remover. from this, i learned that nail polish remover also melts pvc pipe. so my flute ended up as a puddle. i need to order another shakuhachi.

i bought a shakuhachi yuu a long time ago; probably about a year and a half. but i still can’t play it very well. im getting better; sometimes the progress is really exciting. its hard to find time to play it, especially living in these dorms. i want to be out at the beach, on a rock, listening to the crashing of the waves and slowly breathing into the shakuhachi. one of my goals for this school year is to learn to play the shakuhachi.

Slowly day by day I gain more accuracy with my breath. Its truly amazing how difficult just making a note can be. I can play mary had a little lamb and amazing grace – and its only been one week! Ahh.. simplicity =)

A question that music teachers always seem to throw at a new student is “Why are you on this path?”. Its a question I like to think long and hard about, and find it surprisingly unique for every instrument.

When I least expect it. I found a shakuhachi teacher =)

Putting this asside for now.

I have made my own shakuhachi from a pvc pipe, i found the instructions somewhere in the web.